{"id":328898,"date":"2026-05-23T04:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/328898\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T04:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:22:13","slug":"toddler-who-inspired-go-the-fk-to-sleep-is-now-off-to-college-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/328898\/","title":{"rendered":"Toddler who inspired ‘Go the F**k to Sleep’ is now off to college"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Vivien Mansbach attended the Berkeley Rose Waldorf School, all their friends knew they were the child who inspired their father, Adam Mansbach, to write a popular children\u2019s book\u00a0 with the unforgettable title \u201cGo the F**k to Sleep.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A parody of a picture book, its seemingly lighthearted verse contains a few well-placed F-bombs. The book became a bible for weary Gen X parents. It was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. Samuel L. Jackson narrated the audiobook.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When Vivien began high school at the Oakland School for the Arts, no one in their new crowd had any idea of who their father was. But before long, they were peppered with questions. \u201cWhat is your last name?\u201d \u201cDid your father write a book?\u201d<\/p>\n

When Vivien admitted that yes, they were a Mansbach and, yes, that Adam Mansbach is their father, \u201cThe usual response was, \u2018Oh, my dad has that book in the living room.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Were they embarrassed? No. In fact, Vivien thought it was kind of \u201ccool\u201d to be the inspiration for one of what was by that time three picture books their father had written.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to recognize the sweet undertones of those books, even though they\u2019re full of profanity and jokes,\u201d Vivien said, of the popular series. \u201cI could always recognize the love coming through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

With the publication of Adam\u2019s latest book, the fourth in the series, \u201cGo the F**k to College<\/a>,\u201d the spotlight again shifts to Vivien, the eldest of Mansbach\u2019s three children, completing a circle that began with their arrival. Now 18 and a high school senior, they will be leaving for Bard College in Annandale\u2013on-Hudson, New York, in a few months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adam and Vivien talked about the books and their close relationship in the family\u2019s ADU in the Berkeley Hills, where Adam\u2019s cases of books are outdone only by a wall of LPs. Not surprisingly, the conversation contained a mix of profanity, humor and thinly veiled deep emotions that characterize Mansbach\u2019s writing style. His 2023 satirical novel, \u201cThe Golem of Brooklyn,\u201d will be followed by a sequel in the fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To celebrate the launch of \u201cGo the F**k to College,\u201d Adam Mansbach will be in discussion with fellow Berkeley author Peggy Orenstein at 7 p.m. on May 23 at Mrs. Dalloway\u2019s<\/a> on College Avenue in Berkeley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though Vivien was \u201ca delightful and hilarious kid,\u201d Adam acknowledged that, because they were his first child, he really \u201cdidn\u2019t have a clue.\u201d \u201cThe only thing Viv did not do particularly easily was to go to sleep when they were 1, 2, 3 years old. It was just an inability to shut down.\u201d Vivien could sometimes take up to four hours to fall asleep. Adam wrote the book when Vivien was 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to think of it as, I wanted the party to go on,\u201d Vivien said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Vivien as a sleepless toddler. Courtesy: Vivien Mansbach<\/p>\n

Not all the \u2018Go the F**k\u2019 books are about Vivien<\/p>\n

Growing up with a dad who wrote books that happened to be filled with curse words, Vivien, as a child, was also tempted to use such words themself, testing the boundaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was sort of like, he can\u2019t get mad at me for cursing,\u201d Vivien said. The way they got around that was \u201cvery slick,\u201d Adam said. They would cite the title of one of his books. \u201cYeah, my dad wrote a book,\u201d they would say. \u201cGuess what it\u2019s called.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next book in the series, \u201cYou Have to F**king Eat\u201d (2014), wasn\u2019t about Vivien at all, Adam said, since they \u201cpretty much ate everything.\u201d But he had heard so much about picky eaters he decided to go outside the family to conduct his research. After the book\u2019s publication Vivien, then around 6, did not hear from friends, but remembers being teased by adults about qualities they assumed were theirs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say, \u2018Oh, that book\u2019s not about me,\u201d Vivien said. \u201cI do go to sleep and I do eat everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Adam became a father again with the arrival of girls Asa, now 7, and Zanthe, now 9, he wrote \u201cF**k. Now There Are Two of You,\u201d in 2019, which describes the chaos that ensues when a toddler is joined by a new sibling. Adam called the book \u201can understatement \u2014 because then there were three at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like all of Adam\u2019s books, the illustrations include children of different genders and ethnicities and are not intended to represent his own children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vivien, then 11, said they were \u201cmaybe a little relieved\u201d that the book didn\u2019t focus on them. Since they were also a bit older, they were able to recognize some of the experiences their father drew from real life and the emotions that leaked through, despite all the cleverness and occasional profanity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For example, they remembered conversations about getting a second half-sister and the pie metaphor that appears in the book: \u201cI don\u2019t love you any less now, my dear.\/Love\u2019s not a pie; we don\u2019t have to divide it.\/I\u2019m just so frazzled I hate everybody\/And I\u2019m too f**king tired to hide it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur relationship in general is the kind where love is being shown in silly or ironic ways. It\u2019s always been easier for me to show appreciation and love through humor or kind of disguised within something unserious,\u201d Vivien said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a bad thing. Once I was older enough to read the books by myself and understand the context, I realized they\u2019re very loving books. The love is evident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like a premonition, \u201cF**k, Now There Are Two of You\u201d ends with the idea of children one day going off to college, an idea several friends had suggested as a sequel. \u201cSometimes when you both are sleeping,\/ We watch you, secure in the knowledge\/ That one day this madness will come to an end\/And you\u2019ll both go the f**k off to college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six years later, Vivien and Adam were touring colleges back east when it suddenly hit him that a year later Vivien would be moving away and he would be saying goodbye. Soon, a sequel was in the works.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The illustrations in \u2018Go the F**k to College\u2019 are what first moved Vivien <\/p>\n

When Vivien learned that their father would again be using their relationship as inspiration for a book, they didn\u2019t get emotional until they saw Owen Bozeman\u2019s illustrations. He had done the art for books two through four. The flashback images were moving, Vivien said, along with the mention of \u201cthe lifeless house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is sad, but then it\u2019s not that sad because he says it\u2019s lifeless because there\u2019s \u2018nothing to fill the time we spent\/Cleaning up your fucking mess,\u2019\u201d Vivien said. \u201cHe\u2019s sort of roasting me a little bit, or roasting teenagers in general. But it\u2019s cool to have more of a personality in this book, even if it\u2019s meant to be a one-size-fits-all teenager. I\u2019m more of a character than when I was 2 years old.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

An image inspired by their own lives depicts a father and son talking in the car, where many of their important conversations have taken place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"An excerpt of \u201cGo the F**k to College,\u201d written by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Owen Bozeman. Courtesy: Akashic Books<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cool sort of middle ground when you\u2019re a teenager,\u201d Vivien said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be staring at each other.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When Vivien goes the f**k to college in a few months, they are preparing for a dramatic change in scenery, climate and culture in New York\u2019s Hudson Valley. Mansbach, who\u2019s from Boston, worries about his Northern California child in what can be a comparatively cruel climate of the Northeast. He has already given them advice on never-ending winters, followed by the magnificence of springs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the day comes to leave, Vivien thinks it will be \u201cterrible probably.\u201d Because Vivien spends roughly half their time with their father and half with their mother, they\u2019ve already experienced \u201ca million goodbyes and hellos and re-acclimating,\u201d they said. They\u2019re used to saying goodbye to their \u201cPapa\u201d for weeks at a time \u2014 and sometimes months in the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gravity will begin to set in when I realize: Here I am all by myself,\u201d they said. \u201cI\u2019m scared and think it\u2019s OK to admit that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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